Animated doll

ABSTRACT

A SIMPLE BALLERINA DOLL WHOSE LEGS CAN PIVOT TOGETHER OR SEPARATELY, OR PERFORM KICKS, TOE STEPPING, AND SPLITS, OR TO ASSUME A SITTING POSITION. THE DOLL INCLUDES A PAIR OF PIVOTALLY MOUNTED LEGS AND AN ACTUATOR MEMBER WITH A VERTICAL SLOT THAT RECEIVES A SHAFT ON THE DOLL BODY, SO THAT THE ACTUATOR MEMBER HAS OPPOSITE ENDS COUPLED TO A DIFFERENT ONE OF THE LEGS, SO THAT IF THE ACTUATOR MEMBER MERELY PIVOTS, THEN THE LEGS MAY MOVE IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS, WHILE IF THE ACTUATOR MEMBER IS MOVED DOWN WITHOUT PIVOTING, THEN BOTH LEGS MOVE UP TOGETHER. A BUTTON ON THE SIDES OF THE DOLL ENABLES A CHILD TO PUSH THE ACTUATOR MEMBER DOWN OR ALLOW IT TO MOVE UP WITHOUT TOUCHING THE LEGS. THE DOLL ALSO HAS A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED NOB ON ITS HEAD WHICH A CHILD CAN HOLD WHILE TURNING THE DOLL AND A HEAD SPOTTING MECHANISM FOR MAKING THE DOLL FACE IN THE SAME DIRECTION FOR ABOUT 90* OF EACH TURN.

NOV. 2, 1971 .s GROVES EI'AL 3,616,570

ANIMATED DOLL Filed Feb.- 12, 1970 3 sh t s sheet 1 0 2 SYDNEY LGROVESJOE U5 YOUNG AT TORNEV JOSEPH wssor;

Nov. 2, 197] I GROVES EI'AL 3,616,570

ANIMATED DOLL Filed Feb. 12, 1.970

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 74 61 I I w I f I IN VEN TORS SVDNEY L. moves JOE H-YOUNG ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,616,570 ANIMATED DOLL Sydney L.Groves, Redondo Beach, Joseph Kossolf, Hawthorne, and Joe W. Young, LosAngeles, Calif., assignors to Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif.

Filed Feb. 12, 1970, Ser. No. 10,838 Int. Cl. A63b 11/00 US. Cl. 46--1208 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A simple ballerina doll whose legscan pivot together or separately, to perform kicks, toe stepping, andsplits, or to assume a sitting position. The doll includes a pair ofpivotally mounted legs and an actuator member with a vertical slot thatreceives a shaft on the doll body, so that the actuator member hasopposite ends coupled to a different one of the legs, so that if theactuator member merely pivots, then the legs may move in oppositedirections, while if the actuator member is moved down without pivoting,then both legs move up together. A button on the side of the dollenables a child to push the actuator member down or allow it to move upwithout touching the legs. The doll also has a pivotally mounted knob onits head which a child can hold while turning the doll, and a headspotting mechanism for making the doll face in the same direction forabout 90 of each turn.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to toys and, more particularly, to animated dolls.

Description of the prior art Dolls which can perform human-like motionshave been found to provide considerable entertainment for children. Adoll which can perform ballerina dancing motions, such as twirls, legraises, and splits, could prove especially entertaining. However, dollswhich could perform these movements have generally been verycomplicated, necessitating a high price. A doll which could performthese movements using a simple mechanism, could be sold at a lowerprice.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present inventionis to provide a simple and economical doll which can perform dancingmovements.

Another object is to provide a simple mechanism for controlling pivotingof doll legs in a manner to imitate dancing movements.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a dollrepresenting a child ballerina is provided which is capable ofperforming pirouettes, toe steps, kicks, splits and movement to asitting position. The doll includes a body with a pair of pivotallymounted legs thereon. An actuator member is mounted within the body,this member having a vertically extending slot which receives a shaftthat is fixed to the doll, to permit the actuator mem ber to slide upand down and pivot. Each end of the actuator member is coupled to oneleg of the doll to control pivoting of that leg. If the slot of theactuator member iskept at a constant position along the shaft, thenforward pivoting of one leg causes backward pivoting of the other leg.However, movement of the actuator member along its slot withoutpivoting, causes both members to move forward or backward together. Apushbutton which is concealed at the side of the doll body, can bepushed to slide down the actuator member against the force of a spring,to move the legs. The legs can also be directly pivoted. A child canhold one foot against the ground while moving the other leg directly orby pressing the pushbutton so that one leg remains extending down tosupport the kdoll inv a twirl, while the other extends forward or Thedoll is provided with a knob at the top which a child may hold whileturning the doll in a pirouette or spinning motion. The turning dollmotion can be performed with one leg on the ground and the other legkicked forward. A mechanism is also provided for spotting the head sothat it faces in the same direction during part of each rotation of thebody, in the manner of a ballerina.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity inthe appended claims. The invention will be best understood from thefollowing description when FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view ofa doll constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the doll of FIG. 1, with one leg kickedforward;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectional front view of the doll as shown in FIG.2; I

FIG. 4 is a view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view taken on the line 55 of FIG. 3;

I FIG. 6 is a view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 1; FIG. 7 is a viewtaken on line 77 of FIG. 1; and FIG. 8 is a view taken on the line 88 ofFIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates a doll 10having a body 12, a head 14, a pair of arms 16, 18 and a pair of legs20, 22. The doll is constructed so that it can perform movementsimitating a dancer, and especially a ballerina dancer. The head 14contains a head spotting mechanism 24 which causes the head to faceinthe same direction for about of each body turn, to imitate the motion ofa spinning ballerina. The doll body contains a leg pivoting mechanism 26which contains apparatus for controlling pivoting of the legs so thatthey can kick together or separately so as to perform a forward kick,splits, and movement to a sitting position. The arms 16, 18 are mountedon ball joints 28, 30 to enable movement to a variety of positions,although such movement is not performed automatically as is movement ofthe head and legs.

A child can spin the doll by holding a knob 32 at the top of the headand manually rotating the dolls body. These and other movements areperformed without requiring a motor, thereby simplifying the dollconstruction, although an electric or wind-up motor may be used. Thedoll body is generally spun while only one leg 20" or 22 is on theground. The movement of one leg off the ground can be accomplished byholding one leg steady while manually moving the other leg forward, tosimulate a forward kick or to move the doll in a position for spinning.If it is desired to move the legs in opposite directions to simulate asplit, then one of the legs can be pivoted forward and the other legwill automatically move backward if it is free to do so. If it isdesired to place the doll in a sitting position, then a pushbutton 34 atthe side of the doll body can be pushed in, to cause both legs to pivotforward together, if they are free to do so. Thus, the doll can spinwith its head performing head spotting, and the doll legs can pivot inmany ways with respect to each other to simulate various positions of adancer.

The head 14 is rotatably mounted on the body 12 to enable the head toremain stationary while the body pivots, to simulate head spotting whicha ballerina performs when she spins. However, after the body turns about90 from a front position, the head 14 must turn with the body or elsethe spinning will be unnatural. The head spotting mechanism 24 isconstructed to hold back the head 14 until the body has turned about 90from a forward direction, and to urge the head to turn with the bodythereafter.

The head spotting mechanism 24 includes a head shaft 38 with a lower end42 that is fixed to the body, a center portion that extends through ahead cylinder 40 and an upper end 44 that is rotatably mounted on theknob 32. The lower end 46 of the head cylinder is rotatably engaged witha neck portion 48 of the body so that the head is held on the body butcan rotate with respect to it. A spring 50 which is disposed about thehead shaft, is provided to urge the head to turn with the body. As shownin FIG. 7, the spring has one end 52 which bears against a protrusion 54on the head cylinder 40 and an opposite end 56 which bears against aportion 58 on the body. If the head and its cylinder 40 remainstationary while the body and its portion 58 rotate, the spring 50 iswound and it tends to drive the head in the same direction as the body.However, the spring coupling allows the head to remain stationary whilethe body pivots, if the head is firmly held against rotation.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the head spotting mechanism 24 also includesapparatus that essentially fixes the head 14 to the knob 32 during about90 of body rotation, to keep the head facing in a forward direction.This mechanism releases the head after the body has turned about 90 sothat the head can be driven by the spring 50 to rotate with the bodyduring the remainder of a 360 body turn. The spotting mechanism includesa cam 60 that is rotatably fixed to the head shaft 38, so that itrotates with the body, the cam having a cam groove 62. A clutch member64 is provided which is free to rotate and slide in and out with respectto the head shaft 38. The clutch has a follower 66 which is engaged withthe cam groove '62, and an upper protrusion 68 which extends to theregion of ribs 70 on the knob 32. The knob 32 has four ribs 70 spaced by90 around the knob, which abuts the protuberance 68 to hold the clutchmember 64 against rotation. The clutch member 64 has a drive portion 72which can engage a protuberance 74 on a crown 76 that is fixed to thehead 14.

The head spotting mechanism operates when a child holds the knob 32against rotation, so that the upper protuberance 68 of the clutch member64 is held against rotation by the ribs 70 of the knob. When the clutchmember slides outwardly so that the driving portion 72 engagesprotuberance 74, then the head 14 is held stationary, and the spring 50cannot rotate it. However, when the clutch is moved backward so that thedriving member 72 disengages from protuberance 74, then the head is freeto be rotated by the spring 50 so that it moves with the body 12. I

The groove 62 of cam 60 has the shape shown in lfIG. 8. Although thedoll body and cam 60 may rotate in elther direction, they will bedescribed herein for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, asrotating in the direction of arrow 78. This tends to rotate the head inthat direction. However, when the driving member 72 is in a position toengage the protuberance 74 of the crown, the dolls head is held backfrom rotation. The doll is originally established with the body and headfacing in a forward direction and the cam 60 and clutch follower 66 inthe positions shown in FIG. 8. After the body and cam 60 have rotatedabout 90 from this position, in the direction of arrow 78, the follower66 and driving portion 72 thereon are moved inwardly. This releases theprotuberance 74 and allows the head to rotate with the body. After aboutanother 180 rotation of the body, the follower reaches a portion of thegroove 62 that moves the follower outwardly so that the driving portion72 can later engage the pro- 4 tuberance 74 of the crown. After anotherrotation, when the body has made a full 360 turn, the driving member 72again contacts the protuberance 74 of the crown. Thus, the clutch holdsthe head against rotation for about 90 of every complete turn of thebody, to simulate the head spotting of a ballerina.

The leg pivoting mechanism 26, which enables the legs to pivot inopposite directions or together, includes an activating member 80 whichhas a substantially vertically extending slot 82 (when the doll isupright) that is engaged by a shaft 84 which is fixed to the doll body.The activating member also has a right end 86 and left end 88 which arecoupled to the right and left legs 20, 22, respectively, to operatethem. Each side of the leg pivoting mechanism includes a toothed rack90, 92 which is guided in sliding movement along the body in an almostvertical direction. Each rack also has an upper end pivotally engagedwith one end of the activating member and a lower end engaged by one end94, 96 of a coil spring 98. The coil spring 98 is disposed about a post100 which is fixed to the doll body, and its opposite ends urge theracks 90, 92 upwardly. Each leg 20, 22 of the doll is fixed to a shaft102, 104 which is rotatably mounted on the doll body. Each shaft carriesa pinion 106, 108 at its inner end, and each pinion is engaged with theteeth of its respective rack 90, 92.

If the right end 86 of the activating member *80 moves down, the rightrack 90 will move down and rotate pinion 106 so that the right leg 20kicks forward. In a similar manner, if the left end 88 of the activatingmember moves down, the left leg 22 will kick forward. If the centerportion of the activating member does not move along the shaft 84, thenit will only pivot, and upward movement of one end 86 will result indownward movement of the other end 88, and vice versa. Accordingly, ifone leg 20 is pivoted up, causing the right end 86 of the activatingmember to move down, then the other end 88 of the activating member willmove up and cause backward pivoting of the left leg 22. The legs willtherefore pivot in opposite directions and, if pivoting continues farenough, the doll will perform a split. 0n the other hand, if one leg isheld stationary, as by resting the toe of that leg on the ground, thenit will not move although the other leg still can be pivoted forward orbackward.

If the activating member 80 is moved down against the force of spring98, then both ends '86, 88 of the activating member may move downsimultaneously, causing both legs 20, 22 to pivot forward. If thispivoting is continued far enough, the dolls legs will extendhorizontally and the doll will be in a sitting position. Such forwardmovement of both legs can be accomplished by operating the pushbutton34. The push button 34 is attached to a lever 110 which is pivotallymounted at 112 on the doll body. The lever has an end 114 opposite thepushbutton, which bears against an upper end of the center portion ofthe activating member 80. When a child pushes in on the pushbutton 34,the lever end 114 pushes down on the activating member, to urge bothlegs 20, 22 to pivot forward.

The pushbutton 34 can be used to pivot only one leg of the doll, if theother leg is held stationary. Thus, the left leg 22 can be heldstationary in a vertical position by pressing its toe down against theground so that it cannot move. If the pushbutton 34 is then pushed in,the other leg 20 will move forward. The leg 20, in this case, will moveabout twice as far forward with a given amount of movement of pushbutton34, as it would move if both legs were free to move forward. Thus, byholding one leg stationary while the other leg is free to pivot upward,a child can make the free leg kick upward. Such a situation is shown inFIG. 2, wherein the toe 22T of one leg is held against the ground whilethe other leg 20 is free to move up so that it kicks up to a forwardposition. While a child could move leg 20 upward by grasping it andpulling it up while holding the other leg 22 stationary, the automaticmovement of the leg by pressing on pushbutton 34 makes it seem as thoughthe doll itself is raising its leg.

The pushbutton 34 is located beneath one arm of the doll, and is flushwith the outside of the doll body so that it is not apparent. Normally,the doll will be covered by clothes and the pushbutton 34 will not beseen at all. Inward pressure on the side of the doll will then appear tomysteriously cause the doll to kick forward, in an entertaining manner.When pressure on the pushbutton 34 is released, it is desirable that thelever 110 pivot back to the position wherein the pushbutton 34 is flushwith the body. To accomplish this, a spring 116 is provided, whose innerend is held by a pair of brackets 118, 120 on the doll body. The outerend 122 of the spring biases the pushbutton outwardly to its flushposition wherein it abuts a wall of the doll body.

When the legs of the doll are pivoted to an extreme forward position,which is about 90 from the vertical, it is desirable that the legsremain in this position. A pair of retainer members 124, 126 areprovided to retain either leg in a forward horizontal position when itis pivoted thereto. Each retainer member 124, 126 is fixed to the sameshaft 102, 104 to which the leg and pinions are fixed. Each end 94 ofthe spring is biased when the leg is between a vertical and forwardposition. If the leg is pivoted forward, the spring end 94 rides alongthis portion 128 until the spring end reaches a rising portion 130 ofthe retaining member as the leg approaches a 90 rotation from thevertical. As shown in FIG. 5, forward pivoting of the leg 20 towards thehorizontal causes the spring end 94 to move over the rising portion 130and fall into a recess 132 in the retaining member, Once the spring end94 has fallen into the recess 132, the leg 20 tends to remain in thehorizontal position, and a child must apply a downward force to pivotthe leg downwardly.

With the other leg in a vertical position, the spring end 94 abuts aprotrusion 134 on the retaining member. This prevents backward movementof the leg and helps keep one leg in a vertical position when the otherleg has been locked to a forward horizontal position, while the dollturns. In either forward or rearward pivoting, it would be undesirableto have the doll rotate more than about 90 from the vertical, since thiswould appear unnatural. To prevent rotation further than this, a tab136, 13-8 extends from each side of the doll bodyinto a groove 140, 142in the doll leg. Each tab, such as tab 136, will abut one end of itsgroove 140 when the doll leg has been rotated to a horizontal positionto prevent rotation further than this.

The doll is typically operated to perform a spin by raising one legforward about 90 until it latches in place, with the other leg extendingapproximately vertically. A child then grasps the knob 32 at the top ofthe dolls head and moves the knob in a circle, without rotating it. Asshown in FIG. 2, the head shaft 38 is bent, so that most of the weightof the doll is on one side of the axis about which the body turnsrelative to the knob 32. Accordingly, movement of the knob 32 in acircle will cause the doll body to rotate, without requiring a child todirectly turn it.

Thus, the doll provides a head spotting action and a variety of legpivoting actions to simulate many different movements of a ballerinadancer. The arms 16, 18 can also be moved to a variety of positions,though this requires direct application of force by a child to the arms.The simplicity of the mechanism, and the absence of a motor enables thedoll to be manufactured at low cost.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variationsmay readily occur to those skilled in the art and, consequently, it isintended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications andequivalents.

' What is claimed is:

1. A doll comprising:

(A) a body; (B) a pair of legspivotally mounted on said body; and

(C) leg control means coupled to said legs to pivot them, said controlmeans mounted on said body for movement in a first manner tosimultaneously pivot both legs in the same direction and in a secondmanner to simultaneously pivot said legs in opposite directions relativeto each other, said leg control means comprising:

(1) a shaft mounted on said doll body;

(2) an actuator member having a substantially vertically extending slottherein for receiving said shaft and having portions on either side ofsaid slot which are coupled to different ones of said legs; and

(3) a pushbutton having an outer end which is substantially flush withthe outside of said doll body and coupled to said actuator member tomove a center portion thereof in a substantially vertical directionalong said slot, whereby to control leg pivoting.

2. The doll described in claim 1 wherein:

said pushbutton is located on the side of the doll body,

under its arms; and including a lever pivotally mounted on said dollbody, and having a first end attached to said pushbutton and a secondend coupled to said actuator member, so that said lever pushes down saidactuator member when said pushbutton is pressed in, whereby to causeboth feet to move forward towards a sitting position.

3. The doll described in claim 1 including:

a head mounted on said body; and

a knob rotatably mounted on the top of said head for enabling the dollto be held.

4. The doll described in claim 3 including head-spotting meansconnecting said head to said body.

5. A doll comprising:

(A) a body;

(B) a pair of legs pivotally mounted on said body;

(C) an activating member having a center portion mounted on said body,for sliding and pivoting with respect to said body;

(D) a pair of coupling members for coupling portions on opposite sidesof said activating member to said legs to pivot them when said sides ofsaid activating member move;

(E) an operating member having a portion on the outside of said dollbody for movement by a child, said operating member coupled to saidactivating member to move it;

(P) a head mounted on said body; and

(G) head-spotting means connecting said head to said body, saidhead-spotting means comprising:

(1) a head cylinder rotatably connecting said head to said body;

(2) a head shaft having a lower end fixed to said body, an intermediateportion extending through said head cylinder and an upper end extendingthrough said head;

(3) a knob rotatably mounted on said upper end of said head shaft;

(4) a spring disposed about said head shaft, said spring having one endbearing against said head cylinder and another end bearing against saidbody; and

(5) clutch means connected to said knob and to said head for cyclicallyholding said head against rotation by said spring when said knob is heldagainst rotation while said body is rotated.

6. The doll described in claim 5 wherein:

said activating member has a substantially vertically extending slot atsaid center portion; and including a shaft mounted on said doll body andextending into said slot, to guide said activating member.

7. The doll described in claim 5 including:

a retaining member fixed to each leg, each retaining member having arecess; and

spring means having opposite ends biased against said 2,763,095retaining member to fall into said recesses when said 2,788,611 legs areturned to predetermined positions. 3,228,143

8. The doll described in claim 5 wherein said operating 3,394,494

member comprises a lever having a pushbutton portion 5 substantiallyflush with the outside of said doll body.

8 Stearns 46149 Weih 46-17 3 Kaplan 46-149 Gardel et a1 46120 LOUIS G.MANCENE, Primary Examiner D. L. WEINHOLD, JR., Assistant ExaminerReferences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1922 Rommer 46-149 10 461368/1925 Van Laar 4615l US. Cl. X.R.

